Retribution of the Impure
by Langston
Summary: Aragon was raised as a noble boy in Bastok. But when he loses everything, he seeks to become an immortal to avenge his brother. In this quest for vengence Aragon learns a secret that will change the fate of Vanad'iel forever!
1. The noble merchant

CHAPTER ONE

The streets of Jueno raged with noise, as hundreds of civilians and adventurers walked through, stopping to shop and talk. Some of these people shouted for help on missions or for financial aid. Others quietly browsed the auction house, looking for an item of importance to them to go on sale. One of these quiet browsers at the auction house was a young Hume named Aragon.

Aragon was the son of an ex-soldier gone merchant, named Marc. Aragon had his father's brown and somewhat dismantled hair, as well as his good physique. But he had his mothers beautiful blue eyes. His mother, Katherine, and his father were heroes at the battle that took place in Tavnazia twenty years before then. His father was the commander of a small squadron of men in that battle, and his mother was the medic who took care of them. After the battle Marc and Katherine escaped, and came to live in Jueno to raise a family.

Soon before they were to be married Katherine found out she was pregnant with Aragon's older brother, Ryaneth. Since Marc no longer wanted to be in the military he sought his fortune as a traveling merchant. Four years after Ryaneth was born, Aragon came into the world. Aragon and Ryaneth got along fine with their mother, but argued constantly with Marc because he was rarely in town. One day, seven years ago, Ryaneth and Marc argued so intensely that Ryaneth marched out the door saying that he was going to join the military. Aragon had not seen or heard from his brother since.

Aragon grew up in Jueno, being known as a rich kid, and made fun of often for it. He sometimes wished that his parents were not known as heroes in a battle, nor that his father was a famous merchant. But he figured that he had it better then many of the people in the town, so he did not complain for the most part. Especially since he knew that since his older brother was gone, he was going to be the one left in charge of the bazaar after his father retired. This day that he had both looked forward to, and dreaded was upon him.

Aragon snapped out of his thoughts and walked up to the auctioneer, who was getting ready to go on his break. Aragon pulled out his bag of Gil, cleared his throat to get the auctioneers attention. "Um sir I was wondering if I could buy some meat mithkabobs for the journey I'm about to take," Aragon said.

The auctioneer who was clearly not happy to see him shook his head and replied in a stern voice, "No, I'm sorry sir. You will have to wait a few moments until the next auctioneer starts his shift; I'm done for the day." He then proceeded to pack his belongings into his back pack and started walking away.

Aragon however did not have much time, as he had waited until the last second. But he knew there was one power in the world that few could resist to help him get his way. He took out a thousand Gil piece coin, and tossed it to the auctioneer. The auctioneer paused and looked at Aragon. Aragon walked up confidently and put his arm around the auctioneers shoulder, "There's more where that came from and I'm in a hurry. So do you have some meat mithkabobs, or am I going to have to pick up the ingredients from a shop to make them myself?"

The auctioneer shrugged, opened his pack, and took out a paper containing a list of all items on the auction at the time. He looked through the food section of the packet, and found that there were ten stacks of meat mithkabobs on sale at the time. He turned to Aragon and told him, "Well it appears I have to work for another few minutes. So, yes there are ten stacks of twelve on sale today. The last few stacks were sold for ten thousand a stack. Would you like to make a bid on them sir?"

Aragon thought to a minute then proposed, "Yes I will bid ten thousand on all the stacks, and I want all the stacks, so that's one hundred thousand total I am willing to bid."

The auctioneer's face jumped in surprise at the bid, it wasn't often that someone would spend a hundred thousand Gil on food at a time, or at least not this quality of food. But money is money, the more they sold, the larger his pay was going to be, "Wait a moment sir, I will check the prices on the items, and bring you back as many stacks as I can for your proposed offer."

The auctioneer walked to the back of the auction house where they stored all the items for bid. He came back with two bags full of meat mithkabobs. He looked at Aragon and shook his head, "I'm sorry sir for a hundred thousand you can only get nine stacks. The last stack costs a bit more then ten grand. I'm sorry about that sir."

Aragon laughed a little, then turned back to the auctioneer and threw him another ten thousand Gil, "I need that last stack, get me the food and keep the change as a tip for staying over your shift." The auctioneer nodded excitedly and came back with another small bag containing twelve meat mithkabobs. He ran up to Aragon excitedly, and handed him the bag. He then thanked Aragon profusely and continued packing up his items.

Mission complete, Aragon had all of his needed items to bring on the journey he would be setting out on, now? Aragon looked at the sundial in the middle of the square, if that was right he was supposed to be meeting his merchant caravan in the port right now. He cursed and ran as fast as he could through the streets, and down the long staircase into the port.

Aragon paused to catch his breath at the bottom of the staircase in Port Jueno. He stood up, and stretched, admiring the tall buildings before he set off to meet his caravan near the chocobo stables. He finally made it to his party, who were loading the chocobo's with saddles and luggage. His father saw him, and walked over to him, his face hardened and angry. He grabbed Aragon by the shoulder, and spoke sternly to him, "Where the hell were you? I told you to be on time just this once; to what could quite possibly be the most important day of your life, and you stride in almost forty minutes late."

Aragon stepped back, removing his fathers hand and looked him in the eyes annoyed, "It's not my fault that there was trouble at the auction house! I mean damn, it's not like I really care about going on a stupid caravan to Bastok because you want me to become a successful merchant. If I had my way I'd follow Ryaneth and become an adventurer."

Marc snapped at him angrily, "I told you not to say that name around me! Your brother was a fool; I know I was in battle. It brings you nothing in the end. At least by being a merchant you can make a living for yourself. I mean you get to travel, what the hell do you want?"

Aragon sighed, not knowing how he should handle this. He decided to be the better man, and end the argument now, "Look I'm going with you on this caravan to become a merchant. I will keep your business going, whether I like it or not. I think we've decided that it was not my fault I was late, so let's just forget it, and get going."

His father murmured something under his breath, then sighed and asked, "Did you at least get the supplies I asked for?" Aragon shoved the bags into his fathers arms, and walked away to go saddle his chocobo. What the hell was wrong with that man? No matter what Aragon did, there was still something bad that his father could criticize him for. Aragon never wanted to become a merchant anyway, but he did not have that much choice in the matter, so he agreed and went along with his chosen path.

After all the chocobo's were saddled, and all supplies and equipment were secured his father walked to the front of the caravan. He looked around, and then explained the plan. Today they were to travel across the bridge into Rolanberry fields. There they were to camp and wait until the next day to travel through the marshlands into Konshant Highlands. On the third day they would make it to the Republic of Bastok by dusk. After all questions were answered the caravan set out.

Aragon had only ridden a chocobo once before, and that was to pass the chocobo license test. Before that and after that he had only lived in Jueno, and the most he had ever seen of the outside world was the areas around Jueno where it was safe for children to play during the summer. Really the only link to the outside world he had was the stories that his father and adventurers told him. But the outside world sounded amazing. Monsters, beastmen, huge forests and mountains were just some of the many things that Aragon had heard of, but had never seen before.

After a few hours though, Aragon found that the outside world was not that great. It was a hot day in Rolanberry, and the sun pounded down on his neck like the lava from an erupting volcano. The caravan had to stop around midday to take a break from the heat, and even the chocobo's were getting tired. So far the only monsters that Aragon had seen were an ugly huge caterpillar like creature, known as a crawler, and a huge blue monster called a goobue, who guarded the fields.

The group got back on their chocobo's and continued the run through the fields. After a few hours riding a chocobo began to hurt. Aragon's groin was getting sore from sitting with his legs spread so far apart, and from the movement of the chocobo making him subtly bounce up and down. He was just happy that chocobo's ran at a much faster pace then a person would, that way at least they would get to their camp before to long.

A while down the twisting path, which led between the huge hills in the field, a member of the caravan shouted for the group to stop. Aragon pulled back on his chocobo to slow it down. There was quite a bit of mumbling through out the group before the Galka that stopped the caravan pointed over to the side and in front of them. Standing there were several large turtle like humanoid creatures. They stood about a foot taller then a Hume, and had scaly faces with lifeless small yellow eyes. They had a shell that covered their body, and some of the shells seemed to have strange designs carved into them. Aragon leaned over to the Mithra next to him and asked her, "What the hell are those things?"

The Mithra glanced over at them and told him in a low purring voice, "Those are Quadav's. They are a type of beastmen that terrorrrrrize Bastok. Right now adventurers are allowed to have open conflict with them, so I would be cautious of coming across one."

Aragon pondered for a moment, still confused of why they stopped, "Why did we stop? Those things look slow, it's not like a chocobo couldn't outrun one of those."

The Mithra shrugged, "I don't know. I think it probably is because therrre are several of them, and even if the chocobo's can outrrrun them, if therrre are a lot they can ambush us, and an ambush would not be good."

"Then why are we sitting here as easy targets," asked Aragon frustrated. It was at this point the Quadav's walked back away from the path and out of sight. After another few minutes, Aragon's father gave the signal to move on.

Finally after several long, hot hours the fields started to turn into swamp, and the party came to a stop. It was already sundown, and the group still had to set up tents. Aragon got off his chocobo, rubbing his rear which was extraordinarily sore after the long days ride. He did not think that he could go another day like that. He grabbed a piece of bread and a juice and started to snack while he set up his tent. He did not want to be in the same tent as another person, except for that Mithra who rode next to him. He would not mind spending a night in a tent alone with her. Finally the camp was set up by the time the sun was gone, and the day had turned into an eerie night.

Aragon walked to one of the camp fires, and heated up a mithkabob. He sat in the corner and chewed on it, sorting through the days events. After he was done eating he went into his tent, and started to get ready to sleep. It was at this point that his father came into his tent, and sat next to him.

Aragon remained silent, still frustrated with his father for being so ridiculous about such little matters. So his father sighed and started the conversation, "Look son, eh, I'm sorry about being hard on you. I just didn't want you to make the same mistake your brother or I did, and throw your life away to war before you've even experienced the good things in life. I guess what I'm saying is just try having a good time on this caravan, and if you don't want to be a merchant then you have my blessings to become an adventurer. But at least try my way of life first, please."

Aragon lightened a little bit; it was a rare occurrence when his father apologized for something. Aragon nodded, but still did not speak at first. There was silence for several moments before his father turned to his bag and started digging in it for something. He pulled out something that looked like a sword, wrapped in cloth. "I want to give you something," his father said unwrapping the sword. The sword was short, but had a nice curve to it. It was bronze with an iron hilt and center. His father examined the sword for a minute, before he handed it to Aragon.

Aragon looked at the sword for a moment, and then tried holding it in one hand to see how it felt. It was light enough, but it would get heavy after a while if he ever needed to use it. After examining the sword he put it beside him and said, "Thanks… But what's it for?"

"Like I said, Aragon," his father paused, "I want you to become a merchant, but it's your life. This was my first sword, it's called an onion sword, and I would be happy if you made it your first weapon too. Besides, it's not like the caravan never gets attacked, although it's rare, and I'd rather you be armed then not in such the case. Well anyway I hope you like it, and I hope it serves you well until you get a better one. Be up at dawn tomorrow, good night."

His father started to leave, Aragon stopped him for a minute, "Good night, and thanks pop." His father smiled and left the tent. Aragon picked the sword back up and played around with it until he fell asleep, finally feeling content with being a merchant. Soon though that would all change.

Aragon was rudely awoken the next morning, long before he normally would. Somebody yelled at him to get up through his tent, right when he was getting to the good part of his dream. He got up, yawned, and quickly began to shove his belongings in his back pack. He exited his tent to see that once again he was running late and that the other caravan members had already finished packing and were eating breakfast. Aragon just hoped his father did not notice, and if he did he was still in his good mood.

Aragon untied the ropes of his tent, letting the cloth fall to the ground. He then rolled up the tent, and tied the ropes around it. He brought it to his chocobo and saddled her up. The enormous yellow bird made a 'kweh' sound, telling Aragon that it was hungry. Aragon fed the bird a bundle of ghysal greens, and gave it a bowl of water. He then went to go eat breakfast, but was stopped by his father.

His father looked like he was no longer in his apologetic mood, and when his words confirmed it. His father shook his head at Aragon and said, "No time for breakfast. You had the choice to sleep in or to eat, and you chose sleeping so saddle up, we're leaving now."

Aragon made a rude gesture behind his fathers back, and grabbed a cookie for the road. Soon afterwards the chocobo's were off again, running at full speed through the dark swamps of Passhow. The sky over the swamps was dark, and before noon it began to rain. Each rain drop felt like a cold pebble hitting Aragon in the face at the speed they were moving. Luckily Aragon had gotten used to riding a chocobo, so his groin no longer bothered him as much.

Here there were even more Quadav's and other monsters. However, the caravan never stopped, probably because this area was not only dangerous, but the weather did not seem to be getting much better. There was a point where the chocobo's started to slow down because of the deep mud that covered the marshes, and not even the path was clean at this point. Aragon counted the moments until he was out of this dreaded swamp, as his tunic became more and more soaked from the rain. But eventually the storm subsided, and the hills and green land of Konshant came into view.

Aragon gave a sigh of relief when the group exited the marshlands and came into the cold, but beautiful highlands. The entire area was covered with rolling hills, and huge mountains. The sky here was clear, and the breeze felt cool and refreshing. The grass here had dew from the storm, and the sunlight started to dry Aragon's drenched clothes. The entire group stopped for a moment to admire the beauty of the place before moving on.

The sun had passed its high point in the sky by now, and was beginning to drop beneath the hills. Aragon's father insisted they make it to a place known as the crag of Dem before making camp. Aragon had no idea what a crag was, but it sounded like something he had wanted to see. Within two hours of their arrival in the highlands, Aragon saw a huge white mountain like structure to the south west. The Elvaan next to him told him that this was the crag of Dem.

As the caravan got closer, the crag grew bigger. It was made out of a metallic like surface, and looked almost organic. It had several large sides sticking out of it, and an enormous round center that reached to the sky, and ended with a point. It was the most beautiful and strangest sight Aragon had ever seen. Sun down came and the group was at the crag itself. Aragon quickly dismounted his chocobo and ran up to it, feeling the hard, but smooth surface, and admiring the fact that he could not see the top from here.

A small Tarutaru walked up next to him and said in his small high pitched voice, "It's amazing, wazing isn't it? Nobody knows how these craggy, waggys came into being, although there are several theory wearies. It's so enormously enormous that I don't know who could build something like that."

Aragon nodded silently, still in awe at the sheer beauty of this organic like structure. Aragon quickly decided however to set up, so that way he could eat and get to bed early. His stomach had been bothering him all day, and he was not willing to risk missing breakfast tomorrow. He set up his tent quickly, and sloppily, and then happily walked over to grab something to eat. Once again though his father walked up to him, once again he was going to tell Aragon something he did not want to hear.

"Hello son," his father chuckled, "Um well it appears that a certain Galka did not bring enough fire wood to last us through tonight. So it would be a great help if you could take this hatchet and help gather some, it'll let you explore a little too. But don't go too far. Okay? Thanks." His father walked away leaving Aragon a hatchet.

"But…" Aragon sighed and went to his task. Well at least he could go be alone, but that did not change the fact that he was famished. He walked over a few hills and found a tree. It seemed that very few trees grew here, so there went the idea of staying close to the camp. Aragon shrugged, picked up the hatchet, and swung it, making a branch come halfway dismembered off the tree. Another swing and that branch fell to the ground. After half an hour Aragon only managed to get three branches off the tree, and a few sticks. But then, he heard shouting coming from the direction of the camp.

Aragon dropped his hatchet and ran towards the camp, emerging on the hill right in front of the camp. What he saw was a horrible sight. Over fifty Quadav's had invaded their camp, and had proceeded to set fire to the tents, and start slaying members of the caravan. In front of him a Galka swung his axe valiantly, taking out a Quadav. But behind him another Quadav cast a spell that held the Galka in place as another Quadav swung its huge sword, ending the Galka's life.

Aragon couldn't bear to watch anymore, at this point his only choice was to run or fight. After a second of thinking he drew his sword that his father had given him the day before, and charged towards the camp. He ran up to a Quadav that wasn't paying attention, and hit it across the back of the head. Much to Aragon's dismay this attack was not strong enough to do anything, and the Quadav quickly turned on him, knocking his sword out of the way, and tackling Aragon to the ground. The Quadav walked up and got its sword ready to deliver the final blow.

Just as Aragon flinched he heard his father shout, "Aragon, No!" The shout alarmed the Quadav just long enough for Aragon's father to stab the Quadav to the ground. His father turned to him, his face scorned and sweaty, "Aragon run. Get to Bastok by heading to the south. Any surviving members of the caravan will meet you there, but go now!"

Aragon nodded faintly and got up; he started to sprint as fast as he could away from the battle field. Right as he was running away he heard his father scream in pain. He looked back and saw a Quadav stab his father through his back. His father though kept fighting, and killed it as several more started to gang up on him. The horrifying sight was the least of Aragon's worries now as several more Quadav's noticed him and started chasing him.

Aragon did not take any time trying to out run them. He started sprinting again towards what looked like south, though right now he did not care what direction he went as long as he got away. But the bastards kept getting closer, they could run amazingly fast for turtle creatures, and Aragon was starting to run out of breath. Finally he stopped, drew his sword and decided that he could not get away, so he would go down fighting.

Right before the Quadav's reached him a small ball came flying out of nowhere; hit one of the Quadav's, killing it, and exploded. Aragon looked, and there stood a man in a white and black gi. He was dressed in the outfit of a martial artist, and snapped his knuckles before putting a wooden hand to hand weapon on each hand. The man then ran down into the small group of Quadav's and proceeded to punch each one into submission with powerful, yet well formed punches. With in a minute the Quadav's that were chasing Aragon were dead on the ground.

The man paused to catch his breath. His hair was similar to Aragon's, but his face was more mature and he had dark brown eyes instead of Aragon's blue eyes. The man looked at Aragon sternly and said, "Let's go, there will be more coming to look for survivors, and I don't want us to be here when they get here."

Aragon stood up and the man grabbed Aragon's arm and started running. At first Aragon almost tripped trying to keep up with this person, but he regained his balance and the instinct to survive took over, making Aragon run faster then ever. But they made it to the exit of the highlands, to a dry rocky path that lead down to the area around Bastok. Here they paused for several moments, but the man explained that they would not be safe until they got to Bastok.

The moon shined brightly on the dry and rocky landscape of this land known as Gustaberg. The man brought Aragon to the side of a huge water fall. The enormous mass of raging water started on a plateau almost fifty feet above them, and hit the bottom almost one hundred and fifty feet below. The man paused at this place, and instead of walking over to the bridge he walked to the cliff by the waterfall.

The man seemed to think for a moment then turned to Aragon and said, "Okay look if we cross the bridge we're still going to be at risk from being attacked by Quadav's. If we climb this…"

Aragon interrupted him abruptly, "Wait what climb a fifty foot cliff?"

The man continued, "Yes if we climb this we will be safe from the Quadav's since they can't climb. Also we'll make it to Bastok several hours earlier. I'm climbing, if you want to go the long way, there's the bridge." The man jumped on the wall, placing his foot firmly between rocks, and proceeded to climb.

Aragon groaned to himself, and then decided that although both ways were suicidal at this point, it would be better to follow this guy's lead and climb. Aragon grabbed onto a rock and proceeded to pull his foot into a foot hold. He did this several times, every time he'd take himself higher he'd pause to make sure he would not miss a hold and fall. After about twenty minutes he was more then half way up the cliff, but he did not dare look down. It was grueling as well as terrifying work, but after what seemed like an eternity Aragon was at the top, and the man pulled him over the ledge to safety.

Aragon gulped, feeling queasy as he peeked over the cliff he had just climbed. He backed away before he got up, still shaken about the last hour. The man pulled out a flask of distilled water, took a swig and offered it to Aragon. Aragon drank some thankfully before they started walking towards the Republic city. After they were on the path the man stopped for a moment.

"I have to give you props for trying to stand up to those Quadav's. I mean an adventurer with your experience can't take them, but you tried anyway. I couldn't say I was that brave when I first started adventuring," the man shrugged.

"Um, actually I'm not an adventurer," said Aragon sheepishly, trying not to disregard the compliment.

The man turned to him, "What? No way. Are you serious you're not an adventurer?"

"Yes," Aragon paused, "I was actually a merchant on that caravan that got attacked. But thanks anyway."

"Okay," the man turned and started walking again, "But still you did well, especially for a merchant. What's your name anyway?"

"Aragon," Aragon replied, "Aragon son of Marc."

The man stopped looked down sternly then started walking again, "Well nice to meet you Aragon. Let's get to Bastok. I'll bring you to the Steaming Sheep for a drink; it sounds like you need one."

Aragon agreed and followed the man. He wondered why he did not introduce himself as well, but Aragon decided adventurers often did not introduce themselves for whatever reason. They continued the walk until they made it to a large mountain with a tunnel leading inside. The man signaled for Aragon to go through the tunnel, and they emerged on the other side into a huge bustling city.

The man turned to Aragon and said, "Welcome to Bastok." Aragon stood looking at all of these strange houses. The city was not as tall or grand as Jueno, but it was still a sight to behold. It seemed as if the entire city was made out of brick, and it appeared that smoke was coming out of a tall building in the center of the city. The man started moving again then paused and said, "I'll take you on a tour tomorrow. For now let's get to the Steaming Sheep."

After walking through some neighbor hoods they made it to a small building that seemed to be very lively, especially considering the hour. The man opened the doors for Aragon, and they walked into the restaurant. There were over twenty people in here right now, eating, drinking, and talking. It reminded Aragon of the tavern where all of the bards gathered in Jueno. The two sat down at the counter, and the bar keeper walked up to Ryaneth and asked him what he wanted.

"The usual," declared the man then looked at Aragon, "What do you want?"

"I don't care I don't drink too much"

"Okay get another usual then for this guy," the man turned to Aragon again, "Don't worry the drinks are on me."

Aragon thanked him, and the bar tender brought them each a mug filled to the top with a light brown liquor. Aragon took a sip and found that it was very strong, but still good. He drank it quickly, hoping he could drown out the memories of the day. The man next to Aragon watched him for a moment then spoke again, "Whoa now, you're not supposed to chug rum. If you just take a single drink at a time it will still have the same effect, but that way you don't get as sick."

Aragon put down the drink for a moment, already feeling the warmness in his chest and light headedness that liquor caused. Aragon turned to the man and paused before speaking, "Well I just wanted to thank you for helping me out. I'd be dead if you hadn't been there to fight those Quadav's."

The man laughed a little, "Yeah, I know. But that's what friends do. Besides a small group of Quadav's like that was no problem. The huge amount that attacked your caravan was a problem."

Aragon looked down regretful, "I know. I just wish I could have helped them. I mean my father died trying to save me."

The man took a drink then joined Aragon in his seriousness, "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Aragon took another shot, "So tell me what kind of adventurer are you?"

The man lightened up some again and started explaining, "Well originally I was a soldier for Bastok. But a few years ago when the nations started sending adventurers out I decided to do that instead. I mean I hate being held down by something like the military, and with adventuring you still get to fight for your country, but you also get to do it your own way," they stopped to drink, "So anyway when I became an adventurer I found an experienced monk. He trained me in the way of martial arts, and that's how I got where I am today."

The man proceeded to tell some stories of his adventures, and Aragon and him talked and drank until the restaurant closed. Before they had to go, on Aragon's third or fourth mug of rum Aragon proposed a toast. "To adventuring," Aragon said happily.

The man shook his head, "There will be time to toast to that soon. For now I say to you and your father!"

Aragon nodded, "To me and my father." They drank until their mugs were empty, and got up to leave. By now Aragon's vision was quite blurry and he had trouble standing straight, but the man helped him out of the restaurant. Almost immediately when they got outside Aragon spewed up the contents of his stomach on the side walk. He caught his breath then, starting to feel a little better. The man brought Aragon to the bridge over the water in the port. Aragon stared at the beautiful sight of the moon light reflecting off of the waves.

"So," said Aragon, "You never told me your name."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said the man, "Well it's…"

At this point a hulking Galka who was starting to go bald, and had a long thin mustache walked up and pushed Aragon's new friend. The man looked at the Galka offended, "And what the hell do you want?"

"It was your fault our master died, Ryaneth," the Galka half said half shouted at the man, "I can't do anything about it here, but heed my word you will regret your sins." The Galka spat on Ryaneth and walked away.

Aragon looked at the man in the eyes. Then he realized why the man had not mentioned his name. Aragon shook his head, "Did he call you Ryaneth?"

Ryaneth nodded, "Yeah. He did."

Aragon laughed a little to himself, "I once had a brother named Ryaneth, but you knew that. You didn't tell me your name because you are my brother, aren't you? And considering that our father just died you didn't want me to know yet."

Ryaneth nodded again, "Yes Aragon, brother. I am, and you pretty much got your guess right. But actually I just didn't tell you my name because I wanted to see if you'd figure it out."

Aragon chuckled, "Yeah well, you left when I was only eleven years old. It's not like I would recognize you. I doubt if even our father would recognize you now."

"I know," Ryaneth said weakly, "Trust me I know. There wasn't a day when I thought about you guys. There wasn't a day when I didn't want to give up on being a soldier and come back to Jueno, but I couldn't because that would just prove our father right."

"Is it really that important that you proved our father wrong," Aragon looked Ryaneth sternly in the eyes, "Was it so important to you to prove him wrong that you would forsake our family?"

"No," Ryaneth paused, "But it was important to me that I came back as something important, somebody that our father could be proud of. I suppose it's too late for that now though. How about you?"

"What do you mean how about me," snapped Aragon, "This isn't about me."

"Yes it is. Whether you realize it or not you like me, and like our father, are a fighter. And you went on that caravan trip so that you could prove to yourself that you could leave home like I did."

Aragon walked away, "It doesn't matter. I'd better check into an inn."

Ryaneth laughed, "Hell no, you're not checking into an inn. What are you thinking? Just stay at my moghouse tonight, and tomorrow you can stay at an inn or preferably become an adventure and get your own moghouse."

Ryaneth started walking down towards the residential district. Aragon shrugged, and followed him. Become an adventurer? He guessed it was time to stop living in the past and follow his dreams. He took another look towards Gustaberg then followed Ryaneth into his new life.


	2. Betrayal

CHAPTER TWO

Aragon woke up in a sweat, once again he had relived that fateful day when his caravan was attacked and his father died, ultimately causing him to join his brother in adventuring. He shook his head, reminding himself that now those events were nothing but memories, and that he was stronger now. He no longer would have to worry about the pain of that day, and the frustration of not being able to help himself, or his father in that time of need.

Aragon got out of his bed, and walked over to the mirror on the wall, as he took a flask of distilled water, and poured himself a glass. He had changed a lot in the past few months. Before he became an adventurer he was fit, but had no real muscle mass. Now it seemed like he had no fat, and that his muscles, while not bulging, were taking shape and hardening. His face even looked different, it was no longer the innocent face of youth, but the hardened face of one who had killed, and seen death.

Aragon put his glass down, and noticed his moogle already at work tidying up the small moghouse. Aragon wondered how that moogle could stand it. First thing in the morning the moogle would tidy up, and right before it was time to sleep, it would tidy up again. Not to mention it was in charge of guarding all of the items in his mog safe, getting the mail, and gardening. Aragon shrugged and looked out the window to see that it was already dawn. Damn, he was supposed to meet Ryaneth and Kore at the Metal Works today.

Aragon was very excited about today. Today was the day when he was assigned to go on his first diplomatic mission, all the way to the Federation of Windurst. He had been on missions before, and they were fine and dandy, but before now the best mission he had been on was killing Quadav's in Palborough. But finally he was going to be sent over seas to help Windurst do some 'highly important mission, which could affect the Republics ties with the Federation'.

Aragon took out his beetle gear. The harness was tough; it was made out of the shells of actual beetles. But the harness for whatever strange reason did not cover his chest very well at all. But at least the beetle subligar had leggings so that it would not look as if he was wearing metal underwear. This was his newest set of armor that he had just gotten last week. Ryaneth used it when he was training as a monk in Quifm Island, and since he had much better armor now, he gave it to Aragon.

Aragon also grabbed his Moth Axe from the wall, and secured it to his back. The Moth Axe was a huge double headed great axe that he had bought from a bazaar for a nominal cost. It was low on the defensive, but as far as offense went it was the best weapon Aragon could carry or use. He had forgotten about using his onion sword very quickly after he became an adventurer, for it was too weak. However he kept it as a keep sake item to remind him of his father.

Aragon had gotten far fast, much faster then most adventurers would. But then again he had hook ups, like his brother, who gave him a good word to Bastok's musketeer's allowing him to partake in more missions, as well he had his friend Kore to train him in the way's of a warrior.

He had met Kore only two weeks after he became an adventurer. Kore just came up to him and asked him if he wanted an axe. Aragon agreed, and took the axe, they had stayed in contact ever since. Aragon did not know that much about Kore. He was a strong warrior, and a friendly person. Kore did not talk about himself much; he said that he was not that proud of his family or parts of his past. All Aragon could figure out is that Kore's parents were proud red mages, and Kore wanted to be a warrior instead.

Not being what their parents wanted them to be seemed to be a common formula for Aragon and his friends. Aragon remembered when he first sent his mother a letter explaining what had happened to their father, and that he had chosen to become an adventurer. He could still remember that letter to this day word for word.

Dear Mother,

Well I made it to Bastok unharmed. Much to my dismay though, father did not. We were ambushed by Quadav's in Konschtat Highlands when everyone was setting up camp. Pop died trying to save me, and he succeeded in letting me live on. I know you said that pop and I often fought, and we acted like we did not care about each other. But we did, and I miss him dearly.

Despite this grave news, I have some good news. I found Ryaneth, yes my older brother, when I reached Bastok. He is doing well, though he says that he misses you and pop, and he's wanted to visit everyday, though he was too ashamed to. He has become a successful monk, and promises to teach me the basics of adventuring.

This brings me to my next news. Before father died he gave me his blessing to become an adventurer, and I have now decided to take this course in life. I believe that by being an adventurer I can not only help the country, and the people who live in it, but also avenge my father's death. I hope I have your blessings as well, and I will keep in contact with you.

Love,

Aragon

Aragon also remembered just as well the response he got back from his mother, which was not quite what he wanted to hear. The letter was stained with tear drops, and it pained Aragon to remember it.

Aragon,

I love you, but you are a fool if you think that becoming an adventurer will help anyone! And as far as avenging your father goes, I would love to see those Quadav that killed him suffer, but you should know that you'll never find the Quadav that killed him again. You are helping no one, and you will just end up like your father if you don't stop this foolishness now. Don't follow your older brother to your doom. If you have any sense you will take the next airship back to Jueno. Don't bother to write me again if you stay on this idiotic path, unless I write you back first.

Mother

Well Aragon did not write her back since then. One day he would visit her in Jueno, but unless she wrote him apologizing first, she had to learn it was his life to "throw away". Most parents would be proud if their children became adventurers, he saw parents around town bragging about how their son is the strongest Dark Knight from Bastok, or how their daughter is an aspiring summoner. But Aragon and Ryaneth's parents seemed to believe that Adventuring was nothing.

Maybe before now Aragon could not make an honest opinion on it. Adventuring was a dangerous profession, but it was fair. You got what you worked for, well for the most part at least. If you did a mission of a certain skill level you would get a Gil reward as well as a rank up. If you did a quest you would usually get rewarded, and if you hunted a notorious monster, and it dropped something of value you could get a good sum.

The day after Aragon arrived at Bastok he went straight to the Metal Works to be registered as a citizen of the Republic. He also registered as a new adventurer. He had to fill out several pages, mostly asking for information such as his name, age, and job. When someone became an adventurer they had to choose a job, usually it was something that they already had experience in. Most new adventurers started as a warrior, monk, white mage, black mage, red mage, or thief because those were what most people already had basic training in.

Aragon had never trained in any form of combat, so he chose warrior on the form since it was a basic all around combat job, and he did not think he had the mental concentration to do magic. He then had to fill out forms about his moghouse, and request a moogle to his name. After a few hours, his papers were reviewed and he was approved to be a citizen, and an adventurer.

Ryaneth helped him out quite a bit at this point. He told Aragon that in order to train he should start out with basic enemies first, the monsters that a five year old could probably take down. So Ryaneth brought Aragon out to South Gustaberg to start his training. Ryaneth instructed Aragon to seek out huge wasps and tunnel worms, because they would still put up a fight, but they were relatively easy.

Aragon remembered the small joy he found when he found a huge wasp flying back to its nest, and he attacked it. The wasp tried stinging him, but Aragon moved out of the way and swung at it with his blade. The wasp then shot it's stinger at him, injuring Aragon somewhat, but killing the wasp. Aragon gained confidence from this, and learned that a fight can bring pain. Soon Aragon could take down the wasps before they used their final sting on him, and his skills in swordsmanship rose greatly. It was not long before Aragon could even take down the younger Quadav's that roamed Gustaberg.

After a while Aragon met Kore who gave him his first axe, and advised him that if he was to train as a warrior he should use axes. Since then Aragon had become proficient in both axes, and great axes. Weeks passed, and Ryaneth brought Aragon to Konschtat once again to train, and to face his past. When Aragon fought his first Quadav there he was terrified, but when he defeated it, he got a small amount of content knowing that he could have just killed one of his fathers murderer's.

Aragon began doing quests for the people of Bastok. Many of the quests just involved delivering messages and items to the citizens. Sometimes a person would want Aragon to defeat a certain monster, and bring back proof that he killed it. After a couple of weeks he got a little bit of fame for his deeds in Bastok, and very rarely he would hear someone mention his name.

In Jueno Aragon was somewhat famous just because his parents were famous there. But in Bastok he had to start anew and get his own respect by his own deeds. He liked this much better because he felt it was only right that if he was respected, it was his own work and not somebody else's. Now the guards knew his name, and were always willing to give him a mission to further the welfare of Bastok.

Aragon's first mission had him deliver a report from the Zerhun mines to the Metal Works, regarding the productivity of the mines. It was a boring mission, except for when he got lost in the mines and chased out by a giant ameba. The strange looking glob of a sticky substance somehow noticed him, although it did not have eyes, and tried to attack him. Luckily Aragon managed to find his way to the entrance of the mines before it was too late.

After that Aragon's missions included helping the Hume engineer, and legend, Cid get items and tests for his inventions. Aragon also had to go to the Palborough mines to the north of Bastok and kill a certain amount of Quadav's. That was a standard mission that every adventurer had to do to prove that they had what it took to fight beast men.

Kore and Ryaneth both agreed that Aragon should go to Valkurm Dunes to train for a while. The Dunes were filled with Goblins, and Damsel Flies. Not to mention that at night undead came out. The undead had always scared Aragon because they were immensely stronger then any other monsters in the dunes, and they would not hesitate to fight adventurer's. How the undead came to be Aragon could not understand, what he did know was that he wished there was a way to stop them from coming back.

He had finally finished his training in the dunes last week, and had come back to Bastok to relax, and sign up for new missions. The day before Kore and Ryaneth brought Aragon to the Metal Works to sign up for a mission. The guard told them that the only mission he had available at the time was a diplomatic mission. Since both Kore and Ryaneth were somewhat seasoned, the guard decided they would be great for the job. Also the guard signed Aragon up to since Aragon had proved reliable, and because the mission, while challenging, was still simple enough for Aragon to help on. All they had to do was go to Windurst and help them make peace with the Yagudo, a bird like beast man that terrorized the Tarutaru of the area.

Aragon finished his pot of tea, ate his breakfast, and headed out fully equipped. It was a sunny day in Bastok Markets. The activity reminded him of Jueno, although it was not nearly as crowded. Adventurers browsed the auction house, shopped, and set up bazaars to sell their unwanted items. The fountain at the center of this section of the city was a great gathering place, and a sight to behold.

However today Aragon was not headed into the markets, today he was headed to the Metal Works to regroup for his mission, and then head out. Aragon walked up the grey cement stairs to the tallest building in Bastok. From here it looked as if it was nothing more then a mound of bricks, but from a distance you could see that on top it had three chimney stacks, shooting out the smoke caused from the technological advancements constantly taking place there.

Aragon walked through the large opening in the wall leading inside. The interior of this establishment was much like the outside. It was Made with nothing but stone, but the place still managed to be as grand as any a place Aragon had seen. As he walked in the Hume female guard with the short blonde hair who was always there walked up to him.

"Sir I need to see if you are permitted in the Metal Work…" she paused noticing it was Aragon, "Oh it's you. You're party is waiting in front of the President's office on the second floor."

Aragon thanked her, and gave her the standard Bastokan salute. He then proceeded into the main area on the lower level which consisted of the blacksmiths guild, as well as the under used and under kept temple of the goddess. Aragon turned to the large wooden platform which went up and down by the use of wheels and pulley's. It was always a pain to catch the lift as it would only stay on the ground for a minute before going back up. He heard the clanking of the gears as the large platform lowered itself back to the first floor. Aragon stepped on it quickly, and waited as it lifted him above the city to the second floor, not to mention highest point of Bastok, of the Metal Works.

Aragon got off, and headed into the area where the entire embassy's as well as the President's office, and cannons, were located. This area of the Metal Works remained uncovered to the sky, and was like a small village in itself. In the center stood the Presidents office, a large building heavily guarded by the Mythril Musketeers themselves. That was the place that Ryaneth and Kore were supposed to meet him.

Aragon trotted towards the building when he heard Ryaneth's voice call to him, "Hey little brother!"

Aragon hated it when Ryaneth called him that, though he was not sure why he really minded. He turned to see Ryaneth standing there with his white and black jujitsu gi, and orange temple gear. Next to him stood Kore, hosting his iron Royal Knights gear, which covered him from top to bottom in plate armor, though right now his helm, was off replaced by his shoulder length blonde hair. Aragon waved to his friends and went to meet them. He saluted them as he got nearer, and they returned the gesture.

"Hello Ara," said Kore as Aragon approached.

"Hello," Aragon returned the greeting, "So have you two been briefed yet?"

"Nah, not since when we accepted the mission anyway," Ryaneth shrugged, "Naji, one of the Mythril Musketeers is supposed to come brief us soon."

"Damn it," Aragon sighed, "I was hoping to get briefed by President Karst this time."

Kore laughed, "No Karst is too busy to do a briefing like this. Besides, Karst is an ass anyway, be glad if you never have to meet him."

They all laughed then heard the clanking steps of the fifth musketeer coming from behind them. They turned to see Naji walking up in his scale male. He was the youngest of the Mythril Musketeers, and it was easy to see that by his youthful face and his short blonde hair, which stood up some in front. Aragon was pretty sure Naji was only a few years older then he was. Also because Naji was the youngest and the newest member of the musketeers he was nick named number five by the more experienced members of the group.

The group saluted Naji as he came to a halt. Naji returned the salute then looked them over before he started the briefing, "Hello adventurer's. I am sorry that this briefing will be short and sweet, considering that it is an important mission. Now to elaborate on what was already said earlier, you are to go to Port Windurst as soon as possible. Once you are there you are to head directly to Heavens Tower, where you will meet with the Star Sybil. The Star Sybil will instruct you further.

'Basically your mission will be trying to negotiate with the Yagudo near the Federation. The Yagudo are causing more problems in Windurst, and it has been asked of San d' Oria and Bastok to help in the negotiations. The Federation believes that the Yagudo will be more intimidated if there is more then just one nation confronting them. At best it will be a simple task where a negotiator will speak to the Yagudo and the adventurers will stand back and make sure there is no trouble. At worst there will be blood shed, but luckily for us the Yagudo of Giddeus are not the best fighters.

'Aragon, since you are the newest of all the adventurers from any nation going on the mission you will have to take all commands of your superiors. You may not engage with any Yagudo unless a superior engages them first. You will also be the first to run if, in the rare case, the need arises. Ryaneth, and Kore, you know what to do. Are there any questions?"

All three of the adventurers shook their head no, so Naji put in his final word, "I hope that this goes well, as the ties between the Federation, the Republic, and even the beast men may depend on this mission. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope to hear a good report. Dismissed."

The four saluted each other again before Naji walked away. Aragon did not like the fact that he had such low rank on this mission, but decided he was one of very few adventurers with his experience who would be allowed to go on a mission like this. The group traveled out of the metal works into the markets. At that point Kore stopped and addressed the party.

"Well it seems that we are at a loss for transportation. Both Ryaneth and I are high enough of a rank to use the airship, however you are not," he pointed at Aragon, "Unless Ryan here has the Gil to get you an airship pass, we are stuck taking Chocobo's and the ferry."

"No," said Ryaneth apparently irritated by the idea of taking the long way, "I just went broke buying these Katar's, I can't afford to buy him an airship pass. I guess we're out of luck then. Just be thankful, brother, that we are willing to waste needed time to make sure you can come with us."

"Hey," Aragon said jokingly, "You just be glad I'm one of the few adventurers of my experience who already has a Chocobo license. Other wise we'd have to walk."

The group went into the moghouse complex. Known to only a few adventurers was the fact that underneath the complex was a path to every moghouse complex in Bastok. This made travel between areas much faster, though it was less scenic. Aragon climbed up the stairs from the under ground pathway into the Bastok Mines moghouse complex. The three came out into the horribly dull looking Bastok Mines.

The mines were the haven for the impoverished of Bastok. Although it was mostly populated by Galka who had no choice but to work as miners for a living, people of every race who could not afford to live in the markets or the port, lived here. The community was very tight though, and the people who lived here were usually close. They would help each other, but they would shun any outsiders. Aragon thought it was sad that the racism of some of the Humes had ended up making this place so barren, and ignored. The few Humes who thought Galka should not have any real rights forced most of the Galka population of Bastok to live here. And because of this many of the Galka here hated Humes in general, even ones like Aragon who were fond of them.

Aragon, Ryaneth, and Kore walked through the dusty grey streets to the Chocobo stables. Here they took out their Gil sacks, and each of them rented a Chocobo. The Chocobo's were led outside to South Gustaberg in front of the mines district. The keeper told them to take good care of the Chocobo's, and let them go. It was the same process every time Aragon rented a chocobo.

They set out on the giant yellow birds running through the barren wastelands of the Gustabergs towards the small fishing town of Selbina near the Valkurm Dunes, where they could catch the ferry to Windurst. Aragon and the others only stopped once for a snack that day, as they wanted to make it to Selbina before nightfall.

Finally they made it. It was night in the dunes, and bogy's and ghouls were out to end the lives of many aspiring adventurers. Aragon hated those wretched undead, and remembered several times where he had to run to survive here. It was amazing that he had made it this far because he was usually the one to take the hits. When he was partying with fellow adventurers his role was to get in front of the monster, make it angry, and take the hits while his team mates destroyed it.

He loved that feeling though. The feeling of protecting his friends, and being the center of attention in the battle. Kore said that traits like this made fine warriors. But Aragon was relieved when he went adventuring with Kore and Ryaneth because they would take the hits first. Aragon already had a couple scars from all these hits, particularly because the armor that he could afford, and use effectively, did not protect him as well as he would like. Meanwhile Kore could operate effectively in heavier armor, which actually protected him well.

They rode through the gates into Selbina, and once they were there, they dismounted their chocobo's. The chocobo's ran to the nearest out post instinctively. In front of the group lay the small town of Selbina. The town was so small that one could see the ocean where the town ended from the town's entrance. This town was originally created as a fishing town, as well as a place where San d' Oria and Bastok could trade with the nation of Windurst across the sea. There were only a few buildings in the town, and most of the buildings accommodated a couple businesses such as an inn and a shop.

The group wasted no time getting to the gates of the ferry. They decided that they could sleep on the ship after they set out, this way they could conceivably make it to Windurst in only three days. Aragon had never been on a ship before, and he was excited at the very thought. They walked up to the wooden stand where tickets were sold when a Galka came to greet them.

"Hello," the Galka said gruffly, "You have to buy a ticket to get on the ferry. If you don't want to go to Mhaura, then just turn back."

Ryaneth and Kore went immediately to the small booth next to where the Galka stood. A Mithra sat there watching them carefully. When they walked up she greeted them, "Would you like to buy a ticket to Mhaurrra?"

"Yes please," Ryaneth pulled out his Gil sack, "Actually three," he turned to Kore and Aragon, "Don't worry this trip is on me."

The two thanked him as he gave the Mithra the 600 Gil for the three tickets. They all then went to the docks and waited for the ship. The ship was not destined to arrive for around an hour, and Aragon was extraordinarily tired. He sat on the bench and closed his eyes to rest for just a few minutes.

The next thing he knew he heard Ryaneth's voice, "Hey brother. The ship is here, wake up and let's get going."

Aragon forced himself to open his eyes to see the huge mahogany ferry start to pull up to the dock. It had only one huge sail on the top, and most of the ship seemed to be the cabin area. Had he already been asleep for an hour? It didn't matter; he had to be rested up for the journey the next day. He got up and the group strolled to the ship. The Hume there who told them the schedule asked for their tickets, and a minute later they were on board.

The ship its self was not that grand. The interior cabin was just a carpeted room with a chandelier and a few maps of Vana'diel. Only a few other people were on the ship at this time of the night. One of them was a merchant, the rest were adventurers. Aragon was disappointed that there were no private rooms. He knew that the trip only lasted about four hours, but he had heard that the ships that carried important people, such as the President, or an ambassador, had private cabins. Aragon sighed, and decided not to worry about it.

After about half of an hour, Aragon felt the ship start to move, and a man walked into the cabin announcing that the boat was taking off, and the passengers could go on deck if they wanted to. Aragon immediately decided that he wanted to see the ocean, and feel the cool breeze. He ran out of the cabin and went up the stairs leading to the cabin. Here he saw the beautiful ocean; it was dark and hard to see in the night. But he still saw the moon light reflecting off it, and he could sense that the water beneath him was vastly deep.

Another thing that Aragon noticed when he went on deck was that the ship moved. This was common sense, but he did not know that the ship would sway to the waves. He felt the ferry go up on a swell then come down. It was fun, until he felt his stomach go up and down with the ship. Suddenly Aragon felt sick. It was like he was drunk, and the room was moving even though he stood still, but this time he did not have any of the false bliss from alcohol. He leaned over the side of the ship and threw up. He decided to go back down to the cabin and sleep until the ship arrived.

Once again Aragon was rudely awaken, this time by Kore, "Aragon! Hey the ship is about to hit Mhaura. Wake up, damn lazy bastard."

Aragon shook himself awake and yawned. Kore stood there in front of him, holding the bags that the group brought on board. Aragon yawned again, "Where's my brother?"

"Ah," Kore laughed a little, "He went to take a pee on the deck."

"What?" Aragon looked at him confused, "Why is he peeing on the deck?"

"No," Kore laughed more, "Technically he's peeing off the deck. I mean the ocean is the only place to pee on the ship, it's not like it hurts it any."

Aragon sighed; with in moments the same man who announced the ship was leaving Selbina announced that the ship was landing in Mhaura. Aragon, Kore, and the refreshed Ryaneth walked down the docks into the town. It was now early in the morning, and the rays of the sun made the black sky grey. Mhaura looked similar to Selbina. It was also a town made for trade.

They checked out of customs and made their way to the gates of Selbina. Ryaneth frowned again, looking at Aragon, "You know we have to walk all the way to the crag of Mea to get a chocobo."

Aragon stared questioningly at him, "Why?"

"Because you can't ride the airship," Ryaneth frowned, "and for whatever stupid reason Mhaura does not have a chocobo stable."

Aragon punched his brother playfully in the arm; it was not his fault that he was not yet famous enough to get a free airship pass. Aragon, Kore, and Ryaneth walked to the entrance of the town and started off on the peninsula.

"Um," Aragon sighed, "Why can't we sleep in Mhaura for the remainder of the night?"

"We need to make it to Windurst as quickly as possible," Kore shook his head, "Once we make it to Windurst we can sleep."

Aragon silently agreed, though he was still incredibly tired, and would give anything to sleep then. The walk across the peninsula was quite possibly the most exercise Aragon had ever gotten. The sand kept the group from running, and slowed down their pace. Aragon was even more disappointed when he learned that the next area, Tahrongi Canyon was just as bad. Several Goblins tried to attack the group, but they were quickly taken care of. Aragon loved battle, but right now Kore and Ryaneth took out the enemies with out any challenge, leaving Aragon bored.

Finally they came upon the massive crag of Mea. Although it looked the same as the crag of Dem, besides its desert location, Aragon thought it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. This was partly due to the fact that he was tired and wanted to get to Windurst, and partly because seeing the crag's never ceased to amaze him. Sprawled around the crag was more sand, but in the distance Aragon saw the entrance to the actual canyon.

By early afternoon the group reached the base of the crag, and quickly found the chocobo stables there. Every crag had a chocobo keeper, and several chocobo's since it was common for adventurers to teleport to the crags. Ryaneth quickly reminded Aragon of this detail, "Hey Ara, you see those stairs?"

"Yes, why?"

"Do you see that giant crystal at the top?" Ryaneth tilted Aragon's head to look up at the giant clear blue crystal at the top of the stairs, "Do you know what that is?"

"Of course," laughed Aragon, "If I touch the crystal I can teleport here with a white mage."

"Exactly," said Ryaneth sarcastically, "So why again are you still standing here?"

Aragon cursed as he went up the stairs to reach the giant crystal form that awaited him at the top. These crystals were at all the crags, and radiated with a massive amount of energy. It seemed that magic could be used to teleport anyone who made contact with these crystals to the crystal or telepoint itself. Aragon touched the crystal and felt the energy surge through him, his vision got blurry for a second but then he regained his balance and went back down to meet his friends.

"Thank you Altana," Aragon almost cried with joy when the group reached Windurst. The massive city covered in dirt and moss looked like a haven to someone who had not slept more then three hours on a long journey in two days. Aragon looked around to see that all of the buildings were made with large bricks, and that there was a giant tree in the center of the city. Aragon had heard that the tree, heavens tower, was the capital of Windurst.

In all honesty he could not care less about the sights and history of Windurst right now. The only thing he cared about was renting a mog house and falling asleep.

"This is Windurst waters," explained Kore to the group, "It's home to the cooking guild, the Optistery, the Rhinostery, the Aurastery, as well as a variety of shops."

Aragon stared at Kore dumbstruck, "Huh? Umm, okay but can you tell me tomorrow because personally I can not understand a word you are saying right now."

Kore laughed, "Don't worry, even if you were a bit brighter and more awake you probably wouldn't understand anyway with out someone holding your hand explaining it to you."

Ryaneth interrupted, "Okay I say we rent the mog houses then head down to the local tavern for a drink. Who's with me?"

"Not today brother," Aragon yawned, "I'm already tired enough, a sip from a drink and I'd pass out."

They walked through the Waters which unluckily was the biggest district of Windurst, to find the Residential Area. Aragon kept himself moving by thinking that each step would bring him closer to bed. They crossed a few bridges and finally reached the familiar mog house entrances. Ryaneth and Kore signed Aragon in, and after all of the paper work was done Aragon went to his room. Inside there was already a bed that was always given to adventurers who rented a mog house. But also there was a quaint little fountain. Aragon took off his armor as quickly as he could, dropped it on the ground and fell asleep to the sound of the fountain.

Aragon awoke the next day still feeling tired, but he felt much more refreshed then he had before. He wondered if he would just meet his friends in their rooms. They had not established a meeting place the night before, and since Aragon did not know the area it would not have mattered anyway. Aragon walked through the halls to the outside of the mog house. There a guard greeted him.

"Hello sir adventurrrerrr," said the Mithra guard, "Arrre you by any chance Arrragon?" Aragon nodded, the guard continued, "Your frrriends left a message forrr you."

"What," Aragon rolled his eyes when he realized Kore and Ryaneth had already gotten up, "What did they say?"

"The one that looked like you said he was going to get breakfast and a drink, the other one said he was meeting up with a frrriend frrrom his link shell."

Aragon cursed, "Do you know where they might be?"

"Yes," the Mithra proceeded to give him directions to the area where the Timbre Timbers Tavern and the cooking guild were. Aragon did not remember most of the directions, but he did remember at the first intersection head left, and keep heading in that direction until he reached a few shops. He hoped he could figure the rest out from there.

Now that Aragon was awake, and it was daylight he saw that Windurst was a beautiful city. The waters in the lake were crystal clear, unlike Bastok's muddy polluted streams. There were flowers and plants growing everywhere, and even the dirt paths had patches of grass and moss. The sky was a brilliant blue, and in the distance Aragon could see the top of a tremendous tree, known as Heaven's Tower.

In fact Aragon enjoyed the sights and Windurst's peaceful atmosphere so much that it felt like no time before he reached a wooden building with a sign over it saying Timbre Timbers Tavern. Aragon walked inside, and to little surprise he saw his brother already holding a bottle of Rolanberry 874, trying to sweet talk a pair of Mithra. Both Mithra's had short white hair, one of the two's hair was wild, and she wore a bandana; the others hair was flat with a small pony tail in back. Although Aragon preferred Hume girls he did not mind Mithra at all. He started to walk over to his Ryaneth to see what he was telling them.

"…So I fought the ram with my fists. It was a hard fight but I got a good amount for its skin," Ryaneth took a drink out of his wine bottle not even bothering to pour it in a cup, "Plus I admit I like a challenge."

The two Mithra laughed and purred at his story, Aragon could not tell if they were actually interested or just teasing Ryaneth. Now Ryaneth saw Aragon and waved him over, placing his arm around the shoulders of one of the Mithra casually as he brought his waving hand down. At first the Mithra looked at it annoyed, but she shrugged and cuddled a bit closer to Ryaneth.

"Girls this is my younger brother, Aragon," Ryaneth announced to them.

"Hello Arrragon," both Mithra giggled.

"Um, hello," Aragon had never been that great at talking with girls in any situation besides plain conversation.

"Don't worry about him Thira, he's just a bit nervous that's all," Ryaneth laughed, "Oh, brother, I'd like you to meet Thira," the Mithra with the pony tail reached out her paw for Aragon to shake, "And Naura, the beauty who I'm cuddling with right now. They are sisters, at our age, and I got Naura with me, so how about you go work your magic with Thira?"

Aragon blushed, he could not believe this was his first day in town and his brother was already drinking and setting him up on dates. Aragon could not help but feel a little excited though, Thira was one of the prettiest Mithra's he had ever seen. Her eyes were large and a vibrant blue and she looked so delicate, but at the same time confident.

Aragon sighed under his breath hoping he would not mess this up. He went down and sat next to Thira. After a moment of silence Aragon tried to start conversing, "So, uh, Thira. Um that's a nice name."

"Thanks," Thira looked uninterested.

"So, what do you do?" Aragon asked.

"Well my line of business is a bit private, but basically I'm an adventurer," Thira seemed to tip toe her way around Aragon's question.

Aragon did not understand at first that Thira did not want to give a straight answer, "Oh cool an adventurer. What's your job?"

Thira sighed, "My job is the thing that is kind of private," she lifted up a Gil bag, "But if you really want to know then check your belt."

Aragon was confused at first, check his belt? He shrugged and felt his belt and noticed his Gil bag was not there. He looked down, and realized it really was gone. He looked at Thira holding a Gil bag and noticed that it had his initials on it, "Hey you took my Gil!"

She tossed it back to him, "I'm a thief, that's why I did not really want to talk about it in a public hang out."

Aragon understood now, so he quickly changed the subject, "Well how are things going for you?"

Thira sighed, "Good. I just got moved into Windurst, my sister and I lived in Khazam. But our mother moved here, so we came too. You?"

"I'm good," Aragon paused, "I just came here on an important mission. I'm from Bastok, and before that I lived in Jueno."

Aragon felt like he had messed up already, he ordered a bottle of Rolanberry wine for himself, and poured himself a glass. He started drinking quickly, hoping that the alcohol would let him be a bit smoother. For whatever reason him drinking alone was enough. Thira looked at him and asked, "Aren't you going to pourrr me a glass?"

Aragon stuttered, "Of course." He grabbed a glass and poured Thira a glass; she drank then set it down and purred happily for a second.

"That was good," Thira smiled, "I'm sorry if I'm being a bit distant. But your brrrother seems to be getting along a little too well with my sister over there." They both looked towards Naura and Ryaneth who were sitting down laughing, drinking, and cuddling. Thira shook her head, "It's nothing against you or your brother, but I'm not sure if I'm into dating a Hume. And unlike some Mithra's I do not go all over the first good looking man I see."

She looked Aragon in the eyes as she said this. Aragon's heart throbbed a little, so he took another drink. Within the hour Aragon had his arm around Thira, and they were conversing with Ryaneth and Naura. Ryaneth took a drink, handed the bottle to Naura and spoke, "So, me and my brother are on an important mission. It's about the safety of Windurst, can't tell you much else. We could die on this mission, and well my brother is a virgin, and I have not had a woman for a long time."

"Ryaneth!" Aragon blushed, "Brother why did you say that?"

Ryaneth laughed, "Why do you think? It's true isn't it? I mean two fine ladies like these deserve to have strong men, right?"

"Yes," Aragon looked at Thira who was giggling. This was one of the most embarrassing days of his life. Aragon sighed and got up to go outside. As he left Thira looked questioningly at Ryaneth, and then got up to follow him.

"Aragon, wait," Thira walked up to him, her tail swayed as she did. Aragon stopped but did not look back. Thira walked next to him and took his hand, "What's wrrrong love?"

Aragon sighed, "Well I mean I really like you, but. You know my brother is a good guy, but he should not be saying things like that. I mean I'm not like him, I want to lose my virginity to someone I really care about. And we were having a good time, and he ruined it like that."

Thira purred and stroke Aragon's hair, "Honey, it's not like I care. Rrryaneth was the one who said that not you. I'm happy that you want to wait until you find someone you care about to, well, you know."

Aragon felt a little better, so he looked Thira in the eyes as he spoke, "Yes. I mean it's not like I don't want a relationship or anything. You are very pretty, I mean I like Hume girls usually, but you are one of the few Mithra that I would like to get to know better. Don't take that the wrong way."

Thira put her hand over Aragon's mouth to shut him up, she then took it off and closed her eyes as she lifted her head up and licked Aragon on the cheek. Aragon took a step back, and wiped his cheek. Being licked on the cheek was not what he was normally used to. She took his hand, "Let's go back inside."

Aragon entered the tavern, his brother and Naura were still drinking and it looked like Ryaneth was telling her another story. Thira walked up to her sister whispered something in her ear, and they both got up and left. Aragon walked up and sat down next to his brother. He looked at him puzzled, "What was that about? Why did they leave?"

Ryaneth shrugged, "I don't know. Oh well, that Mithra was a bit too easy for my tastes."

Aragon laughed. He did not understand his brother sometimes. Ryaneth seemed to be so confident and relaxed sometimes, but he always seemed distant. Aragon did not have any time to ask why because at that moment Kore and a Tarutaru walked into the tavern. Ryaneth and Aragon got up to greet them.

"I knew I'd find you two here," Kore chuckled, "Meet Hotsoup, he's helping us on our mission. He's in our linkshell."

Aragon and Ryaneth acknowledged him, and introduced themselves. Aragon paused then, "Hotsoup? Why is your name Hotsoup?"

The little brown haired Tarutaru chuckled, "It's not my real name. It's just my nick name. I am called that because I make the best soup in Windurst. In fact I'm the youngest black mage to get to rank 6 in twenty years, and one of the most famous cooks in the area."

Aragon was glad that they had more help. The group talked for a few minutes, and then Kore stopped. Kore pulled out a small dark grew sack, and pulled out a little pearl the same color. Kore handed the pearl to Aragon, "Welcome to the Sons of Lobo linkshell."

Aragon was honored, "What? You guys are letting me into your linkshell?"

Hotsoup laughed, "Yup. Kore, and I talked it over with the linkshell, and they decided that you sounded like someone they wanted in."

"I tried to give your brother a pearl a few weeks ago," Kore shrugged, "But he declined."

"Eh, linkshell's are not for me," said Ryaneth, once again sitting with his arms crossed, seeming like he was in a different world.

"Go ahead," Hotsoup laughed, "Put it in your ear."

Aragon looked at the pearl questioningly then put the small pearl in his ear. Right away Aragon heard Kore's voice in his head, "Welcome Aragon."

"Wow," Aragon said, "Um can you guys here me?"

"Hello Aragon," said a variety of people.

"Yes," a voice said, "When you have the linkpearl in your ear we can hear you, and you can hear us. I'm Morde by the way, the leader of this linkshell."

"Morde," Aragon said, "Thank you for letting me in this linkshell."

"No problem Ara," Morde said in his head, "I hope you enjoy it."

After talking with the linkshell for a bit the party decided to head out. Hotsoup led the group to Heavens Tower. Aragon looked up at the tower of the tree when they got to the base. The trunk seemed to go up forever, eventually breaking and spreading into hundreds of branches and leaves. It was beautiful. Aragon and the rest walked into a door at the trunk of the tree. Instead of a hallway, there was a glowing light blue spot on the ground. The group stood on the blue circle and instantly they were in a large room.

A Tarutaru dressed in knights armor walked up to them. He saluted them with the Windurstan salute. The rest of the party saluted him with their own nation's salutes. Aragon learned from Ryaneth that you should always use your own nation's salute, even when addressing officers of other nations.

The Tarutaru stopped and addressed them, "Hello. I take it you are the adventurers sent to help us with the Yagudo problem."

"Yes," said Ryaneth casually.

"Okay, come with me to the Star Sybil's chamber for a briefing," the Taru signaled them to follow and opened a door to a flight of stairs. They all walked up the stairs to the top of the tree. The Tarutaru guard opened the door and let them in. There stood the Star Sybil with her long black hair. She turned to them.

"Hello adventurers," she said mystically. They all greeted her formally, even Ryaneth. The Star Sybil then continued, "I thank you all for coming in this hour of need. The Yagudo have been breaking the treaty with Windurst. They have been killing our civilians who are in the area with no provocation. I'm afraid that we can not let this go on any longer.

'All you have to do is take the ambassador to Giddeus. Once you have arrived find the leader of the Giddeus Yagudo. The ambassador will speak to him; you are not to engage with any Yagudo unless they attack you first. That is very important. Do you understand?"

The group nodded, the Star Sybil smiled, "Okay, go outside to meet the ambassador to go with you."

The group bowed, and left the Star Sybil's chamber. They wandered to the bottom of the huge tree. Here stood the same guard who had greeted them, and another Tarutaru. This Tarutaru was dressed in robes, and had silver hair which turned into a small ponytail. The guard saluted them again, "Hello again. This is Tazman; he is to accompany you on your mission. I'm afraid no adventurers from San d' Oria showed up today, and we can not wait any longer. I wish you the best of luck."

The guard left and Tazman came up to greet them, "Hello. Shall we be off?"

Aragon nodded and they left. Soon they found themselves in the peaceful Sarutabaruta outside of Windurst. Here the grass stood tall, and trees dotted the landscape. Hotsoup and Tazman led the group, which was odd because they kept disappearing in the grass. After an hour the group reached a valley in the hills. Tazman stopped them, "I don't know if any of you have been here, but this is the Yagudo stronghold of Giddeus. It's much like the Palborough mines in Bastok."

The group followed him in. Here there were many people who were covered in black feathers, and had grey beaks and bird like talons. They all seemed to be wearing a giant bead necklace. Two of them holding spears who were apparently guards walked up to the group. Aragon saw Ryaneth cracking his knuckles, just in case. Tazman greeted them and said something to them. The guards stepped aside and let the group through.

They entered some tunnels which were to lead them to the Yagudo's leader. As they walked they found an opening to an outside area. The group kept moving as Yagudo watched them cautiously; Aragon would bet that they wanted to attack the group in a second. Right before the group reached the next tunnel Aragon looked over and noticed a Galka. The Galka was dressed in black martial arts robes, and stood in the shadows. Aragon did not know why, but the Galka seemed familiar. Ryaneth noticed what Aragon was staring at and stopped.

"I'm sorry," Ryaneth said staring towards the Galka, "You all go on ahead; I need to deal with something real fast."

Tazman looked at Ryaneth, "Come on let's get this mission done."

"No," Ryaneth sighed shaking his head, "I'm sorry but this is too important, you all go, I will catch up. Aragon you too."

Aragon then remembered that the Galka in the corner was the same one who had confronted Ryaneth several months ago. Aragon shook his head, but Ryaneth told him sternly to go, and the group continued. As soon as they were out of sight of Ryaneth Aragon dodged behind a rock, and snuck back to see what his brother was doing.

Aragon saw Ryaneth and the Galka walk towards each other and meet up. Aragon took his linkpearl out so he could hear what they were saying. Ryaneth was glaring at the Galka and spoke, "What the hell are you doing here, Shurin?"

"I think you know," the Galka shook his head, "I knew you were coming so I decided to greet you."

Ryaneth took a deep breath, "Well what do you need with me?"

Shurin laughed cynically, "I think you know the answer to that question too scum. Either that or you have a horrible memory."

Ryaneth stepped closer to him aggressively, "Really? Well refresh it then."

Shurin stopped laughing and glared at Ryaneth, "Don't even act like you forgot your sins. You know damn well what you did to master Rioten!"

Things were getting very heated now. The Galka was starting to shout, and Ryaneth was talking in monotone, which he always did when he was upset or angry. Ryaneth cracked his knuckles again, "What? I didn't do anything to master Rioten that did not need to be done."

The Galka roared at him, "You bastard! How dare you even suggest that master Rioten deserved to be betrayed, and slaughtered at the hands of his own pupil."

Ryaneth chuckled nefariously, "Oh you think that I would just betray someone I was that close to? For no reason? You are the fool here, Rioten. You know that I did what had to be done."

The Galka stepped forward again, "No I don't know what had to be done you bastard."

"You moron," Ryaneth screamed, no longer holding back, "Rioten was messing with things that should not be touched. Things that should not be played with by mere mortals…"

"You will address him as master Rioten," Shurin spat on Ryaneth again in disgust, "And he was a good man."

"Maybe he was before he started getting into necromancy," Ryaneth said defiantly.

"You fool," Shurin shook his head, "Necromancy? Is that what you call it? No wonder you are such a damn idiot. Master Rioten was trying to find a way to bring the dead back to life. A noble cause."

"Noble," Ryaneth chuckled sadistically, "Well what do you call bringing back the dead? It's called necromancy, you fool, and I did what I had to do."

"Humph," Shurin snorted, "It matters not. I'm not here to argue with you, I'm here to avenge the death of a good man."

"Really?" Ryaneth shook his head, "You know that I was Rioten's most powerful pupil. Do you really want to do this?"

The Galka laughed, "Exactly, you _were_ Rioten's strongest pupil."

The Galka rushed at Ryaneth, but Ryaneth dodged and turned kicking the Galka in the back. The Galka turned around and grabbed Ryaneth's fist as he threw it, twisting Ryaneth's arm behind his back. Ryaneth groaned in pain, and then used his other arm to elbow the Galka in the face. They backed up and both released their tension, which gave them a little more power, Ryaneth called this technique boost.

The fight was back on, and Aragon had never seen anything so intense. The two were throwing punches, and kicks every which way. It seemed like no one landed a successful hit. If they did not dodge the others attack, they blocked it. Finally the Galka landed a hit to Ryaneth's jaw. Ryaneth was forced back. Aragon ran out from behind the rock towards Shurin, his hand on his sword.

Ryaneth stopped Aragon, "You, I told you to go with the others!"

Aragon glared at him, "I knew this might happen so I stayed behind to help."

Ryaneth shook his head, "I don't need your help. Stay out of this!"

He thrust Aragon to the ground before turning back to the Galka. Ryaneth held out his arm and a small ball of energy appeared, the energy shot right out and hit the Galka, exploding, sending Shurin flying several feet back. Ryaneth wasted no time running towards his opponent, his fist closed, ready to end the fight. But right before he reached Shurin, Shurin returned Ryaneth's favor by shooting him with his own chi.

Ryaneth fell down, but got up quickly, and he and Shurin were back at throwing fists again. They both landed several attacks on each other, but Shurin hit Ryaneth hard in the stomach, wounding him. Aragon saw now that both men were badly bruised and bleeding. Ryaneth looked at Shurin and smirked; he kicked him in the leg tripping him, then spun around jumped again and landed another kick to Shurin's face.

The Galka was now losing, but Ryaneth did not stop, he landed several more punches to the Galka, then boosted again. He stood back and hit Shurin eight more times in less then a second. The Galka kneeled over breathing heavily. Ryaneth walked up to him sadly.

"I'm sorry old friend," Ryaneth pulled out a katar, a hand to hand weapon with a blade on the end, "But you have left me with no choice."

Right as he said this Ryaneth leaned over in pain, choking. Aragon saw blood spurt out of his brother's mouth. Ryaneth stood up a little panting, and looked at his stomach. There was an arrow lodged through it. Ryaneth looked behind him to see Naura smiling, holding her bow. Aragon could not believe what was happening, and he felt powerless to do anything. Aragon got back up and charged again. He did not make it to his brother in time.

Ryaneth turned and looked one last time at Aragon. Aragon would always remember that last look on his brother's face. Ryaneth's eye was black, his nose was broken, and there was blood around his mouth. But the thing that Aragon remembered most was the look in his brother's eyes. They were glossy, and sad, Aragon saw in Ryaneth's eyes what was going to happen next. At that moment Shurin's fist smashed into Ryaneth's face, and carried Ryaneth's head to the ground, smashing it.

Aragon stopped in shock. The Galka wiped the blood off of his fist, looked at Aragon for a moment then met up with the Mithra, Naura, and they left. They just walked away calmly like nothing had happened. Aragon dropped to the ground seeing his brothers corpse lay there, blood lay around his broken skull. Aragon forced himself to go over to his body; he lifted it up and felt his heart to confirm what he already knew.

Aragon felt hot tears run down his cheeks as he held his brothers cold lifeless body. Ryaneth was the only person in the world who was there for him, and now he was gone. Aragon hit the ground and choked as he started to cry.

"Aragon, Ryaneth, mission accomp…" Tazman stopped as he saw the sight.

"You guys," came Kore's voice, "We have to get back to Bastok now, something has come up…"

Now all three of the other group members were there, and they all stopped in their tracks. There was Aragon crying in front of Ryaneth's corpse. Kore shook his head, "No…"

Tazman walked up to Aragon and put his hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry. What happened?"

Aragon shook his head, unable to speak. A few moments went by before anyone spoke again. Finally Hotsoup spoke, "I'm so sorry Aragon, but we need to go now. We just got a message from our linkshell, Bastok is under attack!"


	3. Prologue

Prologue

The moon light glistened off of the waters of Port Windurst. Besides the moon, and a few stars which came out that night, it was dark; it was the perfect meeting place to discuss events that had happened in the last few years. Here three people met in the moon light by the fishing guild.

The small Star Sybil brushed her long soft silky black hair out of her face and turned to a Galka who walked up to meet her. Compared to the small Tarutaru that she was, any Galka was huge, but this one was bigger then most. He was going bald, and had grey hair, and a long mustache which made him look twenty years older then he actually was. The Star Sybil had known the monk that had trained this Galka, and since then the Galka had come to her whenever he needed help.

"I'm glad that you could make it," said the Galka in his deep tortured voice to the Star Sybil, "I was worried that with all the security at the tower you might not come."

"Of course I came Shurin," the Star Sybil paused, "But I can not be away for long. What is so important that you needed to meet with me now?"

Shurin grunted then replied, "I came to bring you grave news. It appears that master Rioten has been murdered."

The Star Sybil gasped, Rioten was the noblest Galka that she had ever met. He came from the Republic of Bastok; however he had always helped out Windurst when the need arose. Not only that but he was one of the Adventurers that had defeated the evil Shadow Lord two years ago. She looked at Shurin solemnly, "I'm sorry. Do you know who would commit such an atrocity?"

"Yes," the Galka's face scrunched up in anger, "It was his one Hume pupil. He only trained Galka's before that wretched Hume for good reason. Galka's wouldn't stab their master in the back after he trained them so well for years and showed so much compassion."

"I see," said the Star Sybil alarmed, "Do you know why this pupil killed master Rioten?"

"No, but I plan to find out, and at that point I plan to avenge my masters death," Shurin paused upset, "I don't know why. I was even beginning to think that Hume was an okay guy."

"Well I am sorry for master Rioten's loss, but I would hope that you would have enough sense not to resort to violence, Shurin," said the Star Sybil now worried about what may happen now.

"I haven't decided what I'll do yet," sighed Rioten, "But if he gives me the wrong reason for his heinous act, or he does not repent it I don't have much other choice."

At this point a mysterious Elvaan walked into the midst of the discussion. He had a face that seemed to be imprinted in stone. He was good looking though; he was everything a girl could want, a great body that seemed much younger then he was confidence, and power. He wore a hulking set of pale violet and gold armor. Everything in between plates of armor was strong closely woven chain mail and he wore a helm with a spike on the top. He was dressed in the armor of a noble Tavnazian knight.

"Hello Quelveuiat," said the Star Sybil, acknowledging the Elvaan's presence.

The Hume bowed low. "Hello my lady," he turned to Rioten, "Hello to you too Rioten."

The Galka saluted Quelveuiat by stepping back, making a fist and putting it in front of his chest. It was the standard Bastokan salute.

Quelveuiat returned the salute, "I heard about the loss of master Rioten. I assure you that if we find the man who killed him, he will be dealt with. Now what did you call me for my lady?"

The Star Sybil sighed dejectedly, "Well Sir Quelveuiat it appears that the Moon Sybil is to arrive in Windurst soon. And according to the legends, his arrival will not be a pleasant one."

"My lady, I'm honored that you called on me for help," Quelveuiat paused, "But why did you call on me and not the Arch Duke?"

The Star Sybil shook her head, "I thought a Paladin as pure and strong as you could help me. You fought in the battle at Tavnazia twenty years ago, and since then you have remained alive as one of the few survivors. You've also been a good friend since I've met you, and you still have some of your own soldiers and followers to help you need be. So I wanted to inform you before I informed the Arch Duke or the leaders of the other nations, to keep this from getting out to the public."

"I see," Quelveuiat stared at the water pondering for a moment, "Well do you know exactly who this Moon Sybil will be?"

"No," sighed the Star Sybil, "All we know is that he is a male Tarutaru and that once he unlocks his power he will unwillingly destroy Windurst."

"It's sad that these are the darkest times Vana'diel had faced, even though our adventurers have finally put an end to the dark god Promathia's wrath," Quelveuiat sighed, "My Lady I assure you that I will take every measure with in my power to keep this from happening."

"I hope that it will not happen," the Star Sybil looked at the moon worryingly, "But if one thing has been proved through these adventurers destiny is always fulfilled, even when we seek to change it."

"Unluckily I shall have to agree," Quelveuiat looked at both of his comrades and saluted them, "But I must go the flight back to Jueno leaves in less then an hour. I will do anything I can to help, and Shurin, I hope you make peace with that traitor. Farewell for now."

"Goodbye sir," said Shurin solemnly, "I will have to go to, I don't want to keep you my lady."

Both Shurin, and Quelveuiat walked away from the Star Sybil each to fill their own roles in this play called destiny. She had foreseen the destruction of Windurst before, and it did not come to pass, but this time she had an even worse feeling. This Moon Sybil was going to be an ordinary Tarutaru, and thus would be hard to track down and keep from being the monster that he was destined to be. Also whoever this Hume was that murdered master Rioten, he could not be good. She sighed once again, staring at the moon, and started on her way back to the tower.

"Altana, please help us," she whispered as she walked away…


End file.
